


Song of Tethers

by TyQu



Series: Cardenia [2]
Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:00:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28129524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TyQu/pseuds/TyQu
Series: Cardenia [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060751





	1. Luther: These woods

Luther smacked the nearby tree with his stick as he walked by. His small freckled face contorting into a grin as he watched the leaves tumble out of the already dying tree. He drew back his little arms, readying himself to swing again. The cloudy pale sky was surprisingly bright and Luther had to squint as he aimed. 

This time the thud against the bark caused any remaining birds to flock from the tree. In amongst the fleeing animals Luther spotted it. His goal. A twiggy brown lump, wet with the recent rain and now utterly exposed to the winds. Within this decaying nest, sat two smooth round eggs, speckled with blue upon their shell. Luther licked his lips as he geared himself up to aim once more. 

The sound of a cough followed by someone retching nearby caused Luther to lower his stance. Turning himself around he spied a small boy, with bleak dusty coloured hair and pasty skin. The boy's knees were drawn into his tiny heaving chest and his back was hunched. Beside him was a small pool of vomit. When the boy raised his head, his large grey eyes looked tired and shiny. 

“You alright Theo?” Luther asked the boy, tilting his head to the side. 

“I don’t think drinking from the pond was very good for us…” The light haired boy admitted.

“I feel fine.” Luther pointed out. 

“Well I dun know what else it could be. I hafun eaten anything else for the past two days Lu.” The barely seven year old sighed.

Luther thought for a moment, before tossing his stick behind him and walking over to where his friend was slumped on the damp muddy ground. He ignored the squelch of dirt against his boots as he sat down. 

“Maybe you got a stomach bug?” Luther suggested, “Pascal had one once. It made him sick too.”

“How would the bug get in my stomach?” Theo asked cautiously.

“I dunno. Maybe you swallowed it on accident.” 

“I don’t think so. I’d hafta eat something first.”

“Mmm, once I get those eggs down we can eat those.” Luther said confidently. 

“I dun want eggs.” Theo said, turning a little paler at the idea. 

Luther felt sorry for his friend. He then stuck out his small childish hand and patted his friend on the back soothingly.

“It’s okay Theo, I’ll cook them this time.” 

“We can't, Pascal said we aren’t allowed to use the stove,” the light haired boy reminded him, “Besides, there’s no matches left.” 

Luther looked startled by this information. 

“Nun? Not even the special ones we hid away?” 

Theo shook his head sadly. 

“I think the bushy man took them away with him.” 

Luther stood up angrily, his small nose scrunched. He then stomped on the ground a couple of times furiously huffing. 

“Stupid Bushy man. I didn’t want him to stay with us in tha first place! I wanted Bon.”

“I wanted Pascal.” Theo input. 

“Why would you want Pascal? He’s annoying.”

“He’s nice to me.” 

Luther pondered for a bit. 

“Claudia?”

“I miss Claudia, yeah.” 

“She would know how to kill your stomach bug.” Luther thought aloud.

“She would know how to cook eggs too.” 

Luther stuck out his hand to help the other boy up off of the ground. The other boy took it clumsily, leaning against his friend once on his feet. 

“You’re right. No eggs Theo. Let’s get something else.” 

“Okay.” Theo said gratefully rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. 

Luther clasped Theo’s hand reassuringly in his, and began leading them away from the edge of the woods, past the creek, until they came to the outskirts of the village. Luther made sure not to walk too fast, aware of his friend’s clumsy movements, even kicking pebbles out of the way on the path as they walked. 

The pair tottered down the mostly empty roads, making sure to take all the correct turns headed towards the village square. The square was most famous for its pub, “The Jolly man”, which had a big sign outside that Claudia had once told him said “The best pub in the whole Tinmunt.” 

Luther remembered how Pascal had laughed and replied with his usual snarkiness, that the only reason The Jolly man was the best, was because it was the only Pub in the whole village, therefore meaning it held the title of being the worst as well. Bon had remarked that it didn’t matter if it was the best or the worst, beer is beer and the beer was cheap. 

Besides the pub, the other distinct feature of the village square was the small grassy patch in the middle, sectioned off by a low stone wall. Usually surrounding this wall would be two or three wagons, where his family used to get their groceries from. Luther recalled, one time, there might have even been a fourth wagon that came once in the summer. It’s cargo being brightly coloured rock candy that Luther had never seen before. He recalled Bon buying him a few which he ate from a paper bag whilst sitting on the wall. 

That was also the day they’d decided to keep Theo. Luther was glad they kept Theo because it meant that he didn’t have to wait until school to see his friend. Even though he had to share his sweets with the other boy, and even though the other boy cried a lot and was useless at hammer throwing. 

Luther decided to spare his friend a quick glance, now that he was thinking about him, just to check he was okay. Theo met his gaze and instantly smiled, causing Luther to grin back. 

“It’s alright Theo, the square is just ahead.”

The dusty haired boy nodded, and Luther swung their hands back and forth happily as they entered the familiar area. The grassy patch in the middle was muddy, and a thin layer of white frost grazed over the surface of the dirt. The sides of the paves had slimy wet leaves plastered into the curbs, and the few leaves that were dry were skittering across the floor in the wind.

Luther stomped on one as it came close, enjoying the crunch. Theo exhaled briefly through his nose, his smile growing a bit brighter. 

There was only one cart today, parked across from the pub. It looked almost deserted, as most of it was buckled up and locked, as if it were ready to leave. The only reason Luther could tell that it was in fact open, was the box of apples and vegetables propped up against the low wall. 

Luther let go of his friend's hand to skip ahead. Placing his hands on the sides of the wooden crates he peered inside at the array of carrots, cabbages and squash, some still with dirt clinging to their sunken outer skins. He scrunched his nose a little. The selection left, although vast, didn’t look particularly appealing to Luther. Firstly, there were a lot of squashes which Luther didn’t like the texture of, secondly many of the carrots looked misshapen, and the cabbages were small or off coloured. Bon had shown him how to pick the best groceries to take home, and these weren’t it. 

Theo had caught up at this point, and stood next to him, also examining the contents of the boxes. Looking at his face, Luther could tell his friend was similarly disappointed by the way the corners of his mouth dropped into a straight line. 

“Oi, you boys, what are you up to over there?” Came the deep voice of a man as the wagon’s owner emerged from the other side. 

He was bundled up in layers of coats, with a smoking pipe that spurted glowing orange embers and he puffed out a breath. His eyes narrowed at the pair. 

“We want some apples and carrots.” Luther said, stepping to the side as the man came to stand next to them. 

Theo elbowed Luther in the side. 

“Please. He means.” 

The man grunted. He didn’t seem to care. 

“How many apples and carrots?” He asked gruffly, placing his hands on his hips. 

Luther grinned gratefully, raising his hands to show the amount on his fingers. 

“Two!”

“Two apples or carrots? C’mon boy you have to tell me it properly.” 

“Two of both!”

The man seemed to accept that answer, taking another slow puff of his pipe. After being given the go ahead, Luther eagerly stuck his hands into the crate and pulled out his goods. He handed two to Theo and stuffed the other two items into his shirt, shivering as the apple’s cold surface made contact with his skin. 

“Alright, let’s go.” Luther said, grabbing his friend’s hand once more. 

Luther gagged as he felt himself suddenly yanked back by the scruff of his scarf. 

“Ow. What?” He asked in shock, turning to face the man who had pulled him back. 

“What what? You haven’t paid that’s what.” The man said sourly, taking the pipe out of his mouth momentarily. 

Luther blinked. 

“Oh.” he said dumbly, “We don’t have any money.”

“The bushy man took it.” Theo added, gripping Luther’s hand tighter. 

“No money?” The man asked, examining the boys closely. 

The two shook their heads. 

“Then no produce, give me those veggies back.” 

Luther took a quick step backwards as the man reached his raw bony hand towards them. 

“No! We need these, we hafun eaten in ages!” He cried, clutching the corners of his shirt to his chest. 

“And I have a family to feed so give me back my things or pay you little red headed demon.” 

“These aren't even good! And I’m hungry!” Luther protested, edging further back once more. Theo’s grip on his hand tightened as he felt their heels hit the back of the curb. 

“That’s it,” the man said gritting his teeth, “give those to me right now!”

As the man lurched forwards, Luther whipped around and began sprinting. Tugging Theo along, Luther ran as fast as his little legs could carry them. The thudding of the man's boots behind them caused Luther to panic and turn randomly, darting through little side streets, trying their best not to be caught by the man charging after them. 

The man's yelling spurred Luther onwards, as he and Theo began streaking up the roads nearing the edges of the village. Theo stumbled and nearly tripped over, but Luther grabbed his friend by the shoulder before he could fall, pulling him into his side and running once more. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one shiny red apple bounce across the pave behind them and mourned their loss. 

“Thieves, you little worms! You better not show up ever again!” The man roared after them as they ducked under the bridge of the creek and began wading through the water back towards the woods.

“Ah hah,” Theo gasped, “Cold, feet are cold.” 

“Come on Theo, hurry up!” Luther said, trying to ignore the icy water in his own boots.

Pulling his friend up onto the short bank, Luther stumbled as he felt the slippy mud shift beneath his feet. He leaned forwards to steady himself, before hastily clambering up the rest of the way. The trees in this area were thin and spiney, even more so now they had shed their leaves. There was nowhere to hide. 

Looking over his shoulder however, Luther saw they didn’t need to. The angry wagon man had given up at the creek, seeming to prefer keeping his feet warm over having two measly apples and mutated carrots. 

Or, one measly apple and two mutated carrots, Luther thought to himself, remembering the slight slip up that had occured as they were running away. 

“You dropped your apple you pickled pignut! I’m not going back to get you anufa one!” Luther declared, still staring out across the water. 

“You can’t call me that it’s r-rude.” Theo protested through chattering teeth, rubbing the sides of his arms up and down.

“I can call you whatever I like you dunce,” Luther said, rubbing his nose angrily, “what are you going to do about it, cry?”

“N- no.” Theo said, beginning to sniffle a little. 

Luther felt his heart soften almost immediately. He didn’t ever mean to make Theo cry. He was rude all the time, as a joke, but this time his tone must have been harsher than intended. He was irritated and on edge. But still, that was no reason to get angry with Theo. 

“You can have half my apple,” Luther said, intertwining the other boy's cold hand with his, “I’m not even that hungry anyways.”

“Liar,” Theo croaked quietly as he allowed himself to be led away into the woodland, “We hafun ate nufin in days Lu. I’m hungry, you're hungry.”

“I am not hungry, really Theo, I swear my scarf on it.” 

“Really truly you swear on it?”

“I do.”

“Can I share your scarf anyways? I’m cold.” Theo asked timidly through lips tinted with blue.

“You can have all of it once we get back home. There’ll be plenty of blankets too. Bushy man didn't get those I dun think.”

“I hope not.” Theo nodded.

Luther unwrapped one end of his scarf as they walked, looping the fuzzy wool around his friend’s neck too. He flashed Theo his biggest smile as they continued onwards through the barren trees.

Luther knew these woods fairly well, at least on the west side. Not only because his house was there, but because he used to sneak into the woods to follow his older sister when she went out hunting. 

He came from a family of hunters, so it wasn’t unusual when his family members wandered off for the afternoon and came back, but Claudia was interesting because she would often leave for months alone. Luther didn’t like it when she began leaving so frequently so he used to try following her out, however, her keen senses always discovered him sooner or later and she sent him scurrying home. 

Due to this funny game, Luther had made it his mission to know the best sneaky trails and trees to hide in, in case Claudia ever tried to leave again. Weirdly enough though, Bon didn’t like him going into the woods, at least not alone, but Luther supposed he wasn’t alone at the moment, he had Theo. 

“Luther you know the way home right?” Theo asked him, meeting his gaze. 

“I sure do.” Luther said confidently, “See that big tree over there? It’s hollow, has been for the past few years. I buried a hedgehog under its roots. We turn that way from here.” 

“Mmm.” Theo hummed, studying the tree as they passed it.

“Didn’t you used to live in a tree Theo?” 

“Nuh uh, not in it, up it.”

“What’s that difference?”

“Our trees weren’t Hollow, we couldn’t go inside.” 

“It would be nice to live inside a tree, I think it would be warm.”

“And it would smell nice. Like wood.” 

Silence fell upon the pair for a minute. Theo looked down at his feet whilst they walked. 

“Lu?” The boy asked.

“Yeah Theo?”

“I don’t really want to go back to the house.”

Luther said nothing, for what could he say? There were blankets at the house, but the house was cold and Luther didn’t really want to go back either. 

“Could we live in a treehouse instead?” Theo asked, taking Luther’s silence as the cue to continue. 

“Theo!” The ginger boy gasped out, clasping both his friend’s hands together, “That’s actually a proper good idea!”

His friend looked up surprised. 

“It is?”

“Uh huh!” Luther said enthusiastically nodding his head, “We can build it tomorrow and go live there! No one will be able to find it, and we can make our own food!”

“We can share a bed too!” 

“We can play games outside!”

“And our house will also be a climbing tree!”

“It will be super safe and super awesome!” Luther gushed, swinging their hands happily, “Theo you are awesome.”

“Thank you. You are awesome too Lu.”

Luther laughed and as he did so his friend laughed too. Once the house came into view the two had already taken delight in planning out what their tree house was going to look like. Luther had decided it should be the hollow tree they just passed. 

“It will be big enough for just us and a box of all our stuff. It will be the perfect size cause Pascal is too big to get in.”

“So this will be our house? Just for us nobody else?” The light haired child asked curiously.

“Nobody else!”

“What if you find another hedgehog?”

“Hedgehogs are small, she could sleep on my lap if there is one.”

“Her friend can sleep on my lap if she brings one.”

“Yeah! All hedgehogs have friends,” Luther agreed, “If they stop by they can stay with us.” 

He saw Theo nod in agreement just as they walked up to the door. It was ajar, just as they had left it so they didn’t get shut out. He rolled back his shoulders before fearlessly walking inside. 

The inside was much the same as it had been since they set off yesterday. Dim and cold. The only light streaming into the kitchen came from the two windows at the front of the house, one of which still had glass shards scattered across the floor at the bottom from where it had been smashed. There were candle holders knocked over and no candles inside. Luther’s chair at the table was upside down and missing a leg. 

The inside no longer smelt of smoky woodfire or cotton pillows, but now of the damp forest outside. Some leaves had even blown in through the doorway and were resting in the corner of the room where the rug should have been. Luther swallowed and he felt Theo stand a little closer to him. 

“Okay Theo,” he said, taking charge, “What do we need?”

“Umm, our blankets?” 

“Mmm.” Luther thought this seemed like a wise choice, “Where did we leave them?”

“I think we slept under Bon’s bed?”

“That’s right,” Luther said, remembering how the two had spent almost an entire day under there in case the bushy man decided to come back for more, “You go get the blankets Theo, I’ll go get hay for us to sleep on.” 

Theo seemed hesitant about letting go of Luther’s hand, but eventually did so and scurried off to find their quilts. He then went back outside, to the woodshed around the side of the house. After fiddling with the latch Luther swung the gate open and stumbled in. Emptying the contents of the wooden wheelbarrow onto the floor, he then began loading piles of hay into it with his hands. He knew he was making a mess, as straw kept slipping through fingers onto the ground, but the pitch fork was too heavy for him to lift. Once he decided the wheelbarrow had enough hay in for him and his friend, Luther picked it up by it’s handles and wheeled it into the house.

There he picked up the other necessities he thought they would need, such as two bowls, an extra scarf and one wooden spoon. Theo came downstairs, narrowly avoiding a huge hole which had been created in the wooden steps just earlier that week, and produced the many furs and blankets he had collected from all around the house. 

“This enough? Do you think?” His friend asked, deciding to keep one of the furs wrapped around his shoulders.

“Mmm!” Luther replied, a grin spreading across his face, “C’mon Thee let’s get out of here.” 

As they were about to leave Luther spotted something shiny, sticking out from within the ashes in the fireplace. He darted over to retrieve the mysterious item, shaking the soot off of his fingers as he picked it up and squinted at it. 

“It’s bon’s arrow from his crossbow! It must have been left behind!” Luther declared, rushing over to show the item to his friend. 

“Oh,” Theo said admiring the weapon, “We should take it with us.” 

“Of course! I can use it to hunt bears!” Luther declared, tucking the arrow into his belt. 

And with that being that the boys quickly abandoned the house and set off back into the woods. They reached the tree no problem, and quickly got to work on trying to make it into their new house. 

The tree itself was short and fat, with a much wider base and knobby roots that stuck out of the ground. A gaping almost triangle shaped hole in the side. The outside was firm despite the inside being hollow, and nothing but a few mushrooms, bare branches and snails still existed on the tree's surface. 

Luther had to clear out a few bugs from inside, which he did so with a stick. He also made the executive decision to cover their whole floor with hay as some of it was too damp to sit on. Theo then decided to sacrifice two of their blankets and put them over the straw to make it less scratchy. They still had one to share for when they would go to sleep. 

There was nothing they could do about the musty tree smell inside, but Luther decided it didn’t matter. Theo seemed to enjoy the smell, which was weird but Luther didn’t want to make his friend unhappy again so he said nothing. Instead he pulled out the two carrots and singular apple from earlier. 

“Tonight my friend,” he said in a low voice, much like his father’s, “We feast!” 

Luther tucked into his carrot, whilst Theo eagerly nibbled on his, occasionally stopping to brush dirt off of the side. When it came to the apple, Luther had been prepared to just eat half and give the rest to Theo, when he remembered the arrow he had brought with him. Using the arrow in an attempt to cleave the apple in half, Luther ended up with sticky apple juice all down his hands and two misshapen mangled pieces of the fruit.

Theo was polite and savoured it without complaint. Luther then began to feel thirsty. He could tell Theo felt thirsty too. They were too far away to get water from the pond now, as it was getting dark. Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly had an idea. 

“We can drink from the puddles outside!” Luther told his friend, “They’re just like mini ponds!”

Theo frowned. “Are you sure? They are awfully muddy.” 

“It’s fine, it just rained so it will be mostly water and not mud.” 

“Okay.” Theo chirped, happily accepting a bowl and following his friend outside. 

After scooping up rain water from the ground and drinking it, the two boys headed back inside their new house and snuggled down next to each other, sharing the blanket between them.

“We finally did it.” Luther told his friend happily, “Seven years old and already home owners. We are awesome.” 

“Mmm.” Theo replied happily, “You have mud on your face.”

Luther casually wiped his mouth with his sleeve and continued to talk. 

“I wonder if any hedgehogs will come by.”

“I don’t think so. It’s probably their bedtime.”

“Yeah it's so dark I can’t see a thing anymore. If hedgehogs were out here I don’t think they’d be able to find us.”

“Don’t they have special eyes? Can see things in the dark that we can’t see?” Theo asked curiously.

“No I think those are bears.” 

“Are you sure Lu?” 

“I’m sure,” He confirmed, “Oh no wait, that might have been cats, I can’t remember.” 

“I can’t remember either.” 

“Shame we stopped going to school. We could have been learning so much.”

“Yeah. They didn’t like me much though.” Theo sighed sadly.

“Oh? Why? Who wouldn’t like you?” 

“I dunno. One boy didn’t like these though.” Theo said lifting his hands to his head where he moved his dust coloured hair to the side to reveal two little brown atenea, “He said they were ugly.”

“I like them.” Luther said fondly, watching them wiggle a bit, “I always thought they made you look like a snail.” 

“I am a snail.” Theo said causing Luther to giggle. 

“Where’s your shell then?” 

“I don’t know, Bon said I would get my shell soon. But I am a snail.” 

“That’s a cool reason to like you. Not a reason to dislike you.” Luther huffed, ruffling his friend's hair.

“Thanks Lu.” 

“No problem Theo. Let’s try and go to sleep now.” 

“Ok,” his friend agreed. 

Luther rolled over and shut his eyes. Shifting under the blankets and pulling his knees into his chest he tried to sleep. He should have brought more hay, the straw below him was spread too thinly and too long lying on one side was beginning to make his shoulder feel numb. It wasn't even half an hour before he felt a small hand reach out from underneath the blankets and tap him on the back. 

“What is it Theo?” Luther said, flipping himself back around again. 

“I really dun feel good.” Came his friend's meek voice as a pair of tired grey eyes peered up at him. 

Luther paused. 

“Are you going to be sick again?”

He then felt himself begin to worry when the light haired boy nodded back. He reached over, pulling his friend up by his shoulders, trying to still keep the blanket around them both. 

“C’mon Thee, move over if you’re about to be sick.” 

Theo leaned forwards woozily, just enough so his droopy head was outside their tree. Luther tightened his grip around the boy, as he felt Theo nearly tip forward face first into the mud. 

“Okay, Theo. I think you’re gonna hafta stand up,” Luther said trying to push his friend onto his feet. 

“No!” The other boy cried out weakly, “It’s so cold.”

“You can keep the blanket, dun worry.” Luther said standing up with his friend, and trying to guide him out of their little den. It was so dark outside, he could see the moon in the sky but nothing below. 

“My head hurts, It’s dark,” Theo said shakily, “I don’t wanna be here no more.” 

Just as he finished saying this he sunk to the ground and gagged. Luther didn’t think his friend had actually been sick but it didn’t sound pleasant. Theo then clutched his head and began to sob. This startled Luther and the ginger knelt down next to him immediately to comfort him. 

“Thee? Thee, what’s wrong?”

“I’m scared something is going to hurt us.” 

Luther patted his friend as gently as he could. 

“There there, don’t be scared, I have an arrow. Nothing can hurt you.” Luther said, tapping the object in his belt to remind them both. 

“I just feel…” Theo sniffled trailing off as he began to sway a little once more. Luther winced as he heard his friend vomit onto the ground again. 

He shuffled back a bit, not wanted to accidentally step in it since he couldn’t see where it was, and tried to get the other boy to do the same. 

The low moaning of the wind in the trees began to pick up a little, and Luther shivered. 

“Theo, are you still feeling sick?”

The other boy didn’t reply. That wasn’t good. 

“Theo? Thee? Let’s go back inside.” Luther said, encouraging the boy to stand up again. This time however, it failed, and Luther yelped as he was thrown to the ground by his friend toppling on top of him.

“Mn, sorry…” Theo tried to apologise. 

Luther wished it was lighter so he could see his friends face. He didn’t like this. He could hear the leaves rustle as the wind became stronger. 

He struggled to get up, attempting to gently roll his friend off of his chest. Theo was almost completely limp at this point and difficult to move. Then he froze. 

Footsteps. 

Why was he hearing footsteps?

“Thee!” Luther whispered fearfully, “Thee c’mon! Move!”   
  


There was no response. 

“Thee!” Luther nearly wanted to yell, “Someone’s coming!”

The footsteps stopped. 

Luther turned his head slowly to look behind him. A pair of pale white feet stood in the leaves. They weren’t human, at least not anymore. 

Luther felt a scream tear from his throat as the ghost leaned over him, jaw completely unhinged. It’s eyes were plain white and empty. Before he could even blink a long orange tongue snaked out of the gaping mouth. 

Luther put all of his strength into moving him and Theo out of the way. 

He cried out as he felt his cheek smash into a nearby tree root. He could feel hot sticky blood begin to bubble in his throat and stream out of his nose. He barely had time to register it before he screamed again when the white blur moved towards him. 

“No!” He wailed, instinctively pulling the arrow from belt and throwing it at the entity. 

The arrow hit it in the shoulder with a pathetic smack before it bounced back onto the ground. 

“No! No!” Luther panicked as the creature continued to move towards him and a barely conscious Theo.

He was hyperventilating now.

“Need another… need another arrow.” 

As the ghost darted forwards Luther felt as if his soul was barely there. His stomach had dropped into the ground and he wasn’t even sure he heard himself scream this time. 

He was still here. He was still breathing. What happened?

He cracked open his eyes and peered at the sight before him. 

The creature's tongue hung limply from it’s dislocated jaw, it’s furious white eyes now dull and milky. Black liquid ran down Luther's hand. Leaking from the ghosts head, where Luther had driven an arrow into its skull. 

“Haah…” He panted heavily, feeling cold sweat run down his face. He let himself fall back against the stump of the tree, letting go of the arrow handle entirely. 

“Hah, ha… what did… how… I …” Luther swallowed thickly, “Theo? Theo are you there?”

A terrifying second of silence passed before Luther heard his friend’s shaky voice reply. 

“What just happened?”

Luther almost laughed as he felt relief flood his veins. He stuck out his hands blindly beside him, feeling for Theo’s face. When he finally found him he pulled his friend into the tightest hug he could muster. 

“Theo. Oh my Arden, oh lords,” He said into his friend’s shoulder, “Did you see that? What the pignut was that?”

“A ghost?” Theo suggested, still shaking slightly, “Did we just see a ghost?”

“No way,” Luther answered, shaking his head in disbelief, “Ghosts aren’t real? There’s no way. Ghosts?”

Silence fell upon the two for a minute more. 

“Lu, inside,” Theo said shivering, “let’s get back inside.”

Luther nodded, pulling himself up onto his feet and crawling back inside the tree. It was too dark for either of the two to notice the body of the freshly killed ghost crumble into the ground, or two see two arrow heads glint in the moonlight. 

They sat together, under their quilts, tight in an embrace. 

“Lu?”

“Yeah?”

“I can’t sleep.”

“Nor can I Theo. Nor can I.”

  
  
  
  
  



	2. Luther: Revival

Waking that morning was a chore. It was cold under the blanket and even colder outside. His feet felt heavy and his fingers were stiff and cumbersome. He didn’t remember falling asleep. He didn’t remember much of the night before either, except that at the time it had felt as if him and Theo had been huddled together for days. It had seemed never ending and yet, now it was over. 

Luther rolled over onto his side, curling in on himself trying to conserve what little heat he had left in his small body. Whilst he was wriggling around his knee hit the back of another lump under the blankets and Theo’s mop of light dusty hair finally became visible. 

“Luther?” Theo asked groggily, not even facing the other boy entirely yet. 

“Yeah…” Luther said, shivering. 

Theo shuffled himself so that he was closer to Luther. Sighing lightly the sleepy boy knelt his forehead against the others chest. Despite both children being visibly cold the contact warmed Luther slightly, and he mustered up the strength to move his arms around his friend sealing them both in a hug. 

“How are you feeling Theo?” Luther asked, careful not to bump his jaw against his friend’s antennae when he spoke. 

Theo hummed quietly, in a way that neither managed to reassure nor worry him. Luther placed two of his hands gently on either side of his friend’s face and tilted it upwards. The boy’s skin was paler than yesterday, and his eyes half lidded and red rimmed, however there was slight colour in his cheeks and across the bridge of his nose that gave Luther hope. After examining the state of the other boy for a few minutes, Luther formed a plan. 

“Thee, want to know what I’m thinking?” Luther asked his friend slowly. 

Theo nodded weakly, butting his head against his friend’s collarbone. 

“I say we look for food in the woods.” 

“No,” Theo replied hoarsley, “No eggs.” 

“No eggs,” Luther agreed, “We don’t have to get eggs. We can look for berries instead.”

“What ‘bout market?”

“Can’t, that man might chase us again,” Luther explained, “we won’t be able to outrun him.”

Theo said nothing, choosing to lay still. Lifting a hand upwards, Luther cupped the back of his friend’s head, patting it gently. 

“Okay.” He spoke finally, nuzzling against his chest.

Luther allowed himself to smile for the first time that morning. 

“Right, up we get then,” He declared, gripping the side of their shared blanket, “Three, two, one.”

Luther had just enough time to see Theo’s eyes widen before he tore the blanket away from their bodies. The fabric flew into the air as the two boys squealed. 

They then leapt to their feet, the red haired boy chasing the other out of their tree into the clearing. Strands of hay falling off of their clothes and sticking to their hair as they screeched and laughed. 

“I’m flippin cold!” Luther yelled, jumping up and down.

“Your fault! Your fault Lu!” The other boy replied, also leaping about like a maniac. 

The two boys bounced around the clearing, kicking up huge piles of leaves and chanting “Cold! Cold! Cold!” over and over as if it were a new favourite song. The early morning crows took off in alarm at the sudden loud disturbance, the beating of wings adding to the noise. 

“Dragon breath!” the red head cried out, breathing out a cold cloud, “I’m a dragon!”

“Me too! Me too!” Theo imitated, moving his arms up and down as well in the motion of wings. 

The now dragons proceeded to soar in and out of the trees, weaving about in glee before finally collapsing in the middle of the clearing. Tufts of leaves being tossed into the air as their bodies hit the ground. 

“Are you warmer?” Luther asked his friend, staring up at the grim white sky.

“A little,” Theo panted out, “I’m sad no hedgehogs came to visit us last night though.”

“Yeah.” Luther agreed.

He swallowed. The dark barren branches looked like veins against the clouds. 

“Do you want to talk about last night?” He eventually asked. 

“Nuh uh.”

“Okay.” 

“I mean, I don’t know yet.”

“Me neither.”

Silence fell upon the pair, but it was the kinda silence where Luther could tell Theo was thinking. So he waited patiently, wiggling his fingers to keep them warm. 

“I just, I think, I wasn’t sure, but now, I am sure, I think.” He eventually announced. 

“Yeah,” Luther agreed wholeheartedly, “Me too Thee. I can’t believe it happened. It must have happened for both of us to haf seen it.” 

“Yeah!” Theo nodded, seeming much happier with that summary than his own. 

“Yeah.”   
  


“I want them back Lu.” he mumbled. 

Luther said nothing instead opting to focus on wiggling his toes too. 

“They’ll come back right?”

“Yeah,” Luther replied easily, before sitting up once more, “Lets get berries.”

“You have leaves on your back.”

“Help me get em off then Theo!” Luther commanded, grinning at the other boy. 

The other boy moved to get up, but faltered in his movements, as if he were a flickering candle in the outside breeze. 

“Head hurts.” 

“You can do it, c’mon get up.” Luther told his friend firmly. 

They didn’t have time to sit around and do nothing, they needed to act quickly. Yesterday Luther had put too much aside in order to take things slow, and he loved Theo lots, that's why he had to work hard today in order to make sure they would be okay. 

“Get up!” He demanded to try to lift the boy, who merely seemed to sag in his arms, “You can get on my back! I’ll carry you!” 

“Nuh,” Theo replied, seeming to finally gain his footing, “M’fine. I can walk.” 

“You sure?”

“Yeah! I was running around a while ago right? I should be fine!” Theo affirmed.

Luther hesitated, wanted to double double make sure things were alright before setting off, however the gnawing in his stomach made him feel the need to rush. 

“Food. C’mon.” Luther said picking a direction and walking that way. 

“Do berries grow this time of year?” Theo asked following him. 

“Yes, I saw some a few weeks ago when I was out with Bon.” 

“Are they nice berries?” 

Luther thought back to the day and pictured the berries in his head. They were orange and small, like little beads, and were far brighter in colour than the orange of the dying leaves below. He recalled the bush in which they grew on, being a deep lush green, and with tiny needle like leaves that fanned out from each individual twig. They had been pretty. 

“Yeah, yeah Theo,” He said nodding his head, “They looked really nice. The birds really liked em I know that for sure.”

“The birds did?”

“Uh huh, hundreds n’ hundreds of them must have been eating from the bushes. In fact so many, we should hope there's berries left for us.” 

“Oh wow!” Theo sighed out, looking out into the distance, “If the birds like them a lot that must mean they are extra tasty then.” 

The two boys looked to each other, as if they knew what each of them were picturing, a belly full of sweet juicy berries. 

Luther licked his lips keenly, “I hope we find them soon!” 

The two boys wandered on for a bit more, Luther couldn’t remember the exact way to the berries he had seen a week before, but he knew the vague direction. He wished he had snuck out for just a little bit longer to get to know the woods better, as he wasn’t entirely confident in his sense of direction. 

However, finally after wandering down a few slopes, and hopping their way over a couple of mossy woodland boulders, the boys came to a patch of evergreen bushes, exactly how Luther had remembered them. The orange berries looked fresh and inviting and there wasn’t a single greedy bird in sight. 

“Wooo!” Luther hollered rushing forwards with his hands in the air, “Berries! There's so many of em!”

Theo stumbled after him, struggling but with a smile on his face. 

“So many! Amazing Lu!” 

Luther began plucking handfuls from the bushes by raking his fists along the branches.

“Tonight we feast!” He imitated again in that deep gruff voice he had used the night previously. Beside him Theo squeaked with laughter as he too began pulling handfuls of the fruits from the bushes. Tiny leaves began to fall to the floor as two boys set to work on stripping the branches in front of them, struggling to hold the vast amount they were rapidly collecting. They were too consumed in the process, too hungry for what was right in front of them, they failed to notice another presence entering the area. 

“What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing.”

Theo shrieked, dropping all his loot on the floor as he spun around. Luther also jumped at the noise, but managed to retain his collection. 

Behind the boys stood a teengaer, who looked to be maybe around fourteen or fifteen years old based on his height. He had walnut skin and spiky ink black hair that stuck out in all directions. He was staring at them with disapproving bright green eyes, where the skin surrounding was teal coloured and touched the top of his cheeks, spreading across the bridge of his nose. Jaggard black lines seemed to frame his eyes, as if etched onto the side of his face with a quill and when he tilted his head at them, his pointy blue ears became visible. 

Luther scowled at the teen, however, Theo darted forwards, arms outstretched in front of him. The teen barely had time to react before he was hit full force by the excited seven year old, who latched onto him like a clam. 

“Fuck Theo,” the teen wheezed at the impact of the collision, “What the fuck.” 

“Pascal!” The light haired boy replied joyfully, nuzzling his face into the older boy's shirt. 

“Don’t swear Pascal.” Luther replied sourly, then looked to the floor beside him. Theo’s stash of berries lay sitting in the mud, probably still salvageable but Luther still felt angry.

“You made Theo drop our breakfast!” He snapped, making sure to voice his annoyance to their new arrival, “You are so awful I hate you.” 

Pascal blinked at the seething young boy, as if in mild disbelief. 

“What are you on about you idiotic kid,” He scoffed, then gasped as if he had just thought of something, “Wait a second! You haven’t been eating these berries have you?”

Luther said nothing but continued to stare at him. Perhaps if he stared hard enough the other boy would leave. 

“Oh my pignut Luther!” Pascal exclaimed, prying Theo away from him for a second and marching over, “Holy fuck dad is going to be so mad. Why were you eating berries? These are poisonous!” 

Luther tried to pull away as Pascal grabbed his wrists in an attempt to see what was in his hands, however, he ended up slipping and his berries met the same fate as his friend’s did. They looked at the array of freshly plucked berries now sitting in the dirt and frowned. 

“We didn’t even eat them yet!” Luther muttered crossing his arms, “Idiot.” 

Pascal looked at Luther before giving a tired and exasperated sigh. 

“Thank goodness then,” Pascal muttered pinching between his brows before turning to face the boys again, “Alright, I don’t know what the hell was going on here but can you please just come back to the house. Claudia and dad should have gotten back by now.”

“Yes please!” Theo beamed, running over to grab Pascal’s hand again.

“Traitor.” Luther grumbled before also taking his older brother's hand. 

Pascal didn’t move. He instead frowned once more, peering at the two with intense eyes as if to study the pair.

“Somethings wrong. Why do you both have mud all over your face?” Pascal asked, “Why are your hands both so cold?”

He then suddenly let go of them both, causing Theo’s smile to drop. Pascal knelt down in front of him, staring into the small boy’s face. 

“Pascal?” Theo asked nervously as the eldest boy placed a hand on his forehead, brushing his light dust coloured hair away. 

“Fuck,” Pascal murmed, “Theo you’re burning up.”

He then whipped around to look at Luther.

“Is that dry blood on your face?” 

Luther scrubbed his nose with the back of his sleeve and blinked. Pascal grimaced.

“Okay, okay,” He said, standing up and taking both of their hands again, “We are going home right now. I don’t know what’s been happening but-” 

“Pascal!”

The group's heads snapped up as two much taller figures entered the clearing. A tall man with long rusty golden hair and short beard came first. His shoulders were draped with a thick green cloak and the clinking metal of his armour and metal boot straps could be heard with every step he took. The shape of a crossbow covered with cloth was visible on his back.

“You found the boys.” The man said looking relieved. 

He crouched down low, putting his armoured knee to the forest floor. Fabric rustled as he opened his arms wide beaming at the two young boys. Without a moment's hesitation the children abandoned Pacal’s sides and threw themselves into the loving embrace of this man. 

“Bon!”

“Dad!” 

“Boys!” The man chuckled softly, ruffling their heads and holding them close.

After he was done squeezing them, Bon loosened the hug enough to inspect the boys, looking up and down at their dirty clothes and messy hair. 

“Are you alright Luther, Theo?” He asked earnestly, rubbing Luther’s shoulder soothingly. 

“Yeah.” He replied happily. 

“No,” Pascal interrupted, stepping forwards, “Theo’s spiking a fever dad.” 

Bon hummed lowly, his brows knitted together as he lifted a hand to take Theo’s temperature. 

“I see. We should head back home,” He decided, “Here Theo, hop up.”

The man bent down just enough for the young boy to scramble onto his back. Wrapping his arms around Bon’s neck Theo allowed himself to be lifted by the man, the man’s strong arms moving to support the small boy's legs. Theo sighed softly and rested his head against the large man’s shoulder, smiling contently. 

“Not to scare you boys or anything, but we think there’s been a bit of a break in back home. Don’t worry though, you’ll be safe with us and Mr Petters when we find him.” Bon said in a reassuring voice, offering a hand for Luther to take. 

“We know, Mr Petters and his friends,” Luther said solemnly, “but it’s okay dad, they haven’t come back for the past few days so we are safe.” 

Bon’s posture tensed visibly. His grip on Luther tightened. 

“Lu, what do you mean? Where’s Mr Petters?” He asked gently with a serious glint in his brown eyes.

“Oh that was his name,” came Theo’s sleepy voice, “Bushy man hehe.”

Luther giggled as well. 

The third new figure finally moved closer to the rest of the gathering. A tall girl wearing a black dress with mousy brown hair that was almost grey in tinge placed her hand on Luther’s shoulder. Her eyes were grey and steely like the sky, the strong curve of her jaw suggested she was almost an adult. She had a low cut corset buckled around her waist and wore a maroon coloured cloak. Much like Bon she too had a hidden weapon strapped to her back, this time the shape of a scythe visible under the wrap. 

“What happened with Mr Petters Luther?” the girl asked forwardly. 

Luther shrugged, “I don’t know. He left and took a bunch of our stuff with him. Him and his friends I think. There was more than one person Claudia.” 

The girls gaze hardened. 

“When did he leave you two?”

“I don’t know, the night you all left?” Luther guessed, kicking the damp leaves on the ground. 

“Goodness,” Bon gasped out, turning to his companions and sharing a grave look, “that was nearly five days ago.”

“And you’ve been living at home alone ever since?” Claudia decided to ask again.

“Mmm not exactly.” Luther replied, thinking hard. He then went quiet, avoiding eye contact with any of his family members as he twisted his heel in the dirt idly. 

“Tell us everything Lu,” Bon said encouragingly, “You aren’t in trouble, I promise.” 

The red haired boy looked up cautiously, then relaxed a little after deeming this question safe. 

“Okay so Bushy man and his friends came over and refused to give us dinner, so I yelled at him but then they chased me and Theo upstairs and we hid under your bed. When we came down in the morning loads of our stuff was gone, including the emergency money you gave us for food so we just took what was left in the cupboards,” Luther began to explain, “But then we began to run out of food and there was nothing to drink so we went hunting and drank some water from the pond. But then Theo threw up and he decided he didn’t want to eat bird eggs, they were too high anyway, and so I said we should go to the market.”

“Market man chased us.” Theo helpfully input. 

“Yeah! Market man chased us cause we had no money,” Luther agreed nodding enthusiastically, “Then we decided we didn’t like the house so we made our own house in a tree. We wanted to house hedgehogs but none came. Like the time Claudia built a house for the foxes out in the back of our house, except for hedgehogs and we also live there. It’s our house now though, Pascal you can’t live with us.” 

Pascal opened his mouth, looking as if he wanted to retort, but after assessing the situation for a second decided against it and instead looked at Luther sadly. Luther stuck out his tongue at him and grinned. Bon exhaled slowly, taking the time to run his fingers through Luther’s hair gently. He could feel Claudia apply marginally more pressure to his shoulder, although her face remained calm as it always was. 

Theo mumbled something into Bon’s hair but whatever it was it was too muffled to be heard. 

“What was that Theo?” The rusty haired man asked, gently running a finger down the limp boy’s cheek.

“There was a ghost lady…” 

Bon’s eyes widened, “A ghost?” 

Luther coughed loudly, turning his family’s attention back towards him. 

“There was no ghost, he’s just sick.” Luther explained. 

Bon’s posture seemed to relax at this, and Claudia finally lifted her hand from Luther’s shoulder. 

“There was…” Theo barely managed to say, his eyes already shutting,, “In ah nighttime, after puddle drink anh ha no hedgehog.” 

“Okay Theo, rest now,” Claudia told the young boy, seemingly deciding Theo’s rambling was not worth listening to for the moment, “Luther come here.”

Luther hopped over to Claudia happily, as the group began to set off in the direction of their house. Claudia pulled a black lace handkerchief from within her cloak pockets and began to dab Luther's cheek forcefully.

“Arden Luther,” she tutted, “What happened to your face?” 

Luther blinked hard, his eyes prickling as the elder girl tried to clean his sensitive nose. He flapped his arms around,sticking out his tongue as he tried to pull away from her. It was no use. Claudia’s hold on him was one of pure iron. 

“Ow! Claud, that stings.” He whined, his voice coming out muffled and nasally as a result of the cloth being held over his face. 

Claudia continued to rub until his red cheeks were finally visible under all the dirt. She then pocketed the hanky again, smiling to herself. 

“There, all clean.” 

“We’ll have to boil some water and give you both a bath once we are home.” Bon said from ahead of the two. 

Luther could see Theo’s head bounce gently against their father’s back as he strode through the woods, seemingly finally asleep. 

“The blankets are in our house. The one me and Theo built. We took them all to make our bed.” Luther told his father, dashing a little further forwards to catch up. 

Bon raised an eyebrow, questioning the young boy.

“And where was your house again?”   
  


“In the old hollow tree. The one we pass sometimes when we walk.” 

The oldest man turned to look at the red robed girl. 

“Claudia?”   
  


“Don’t worry. I’m on it.” She responded diligently and after ruffling Luther's hair once more, separated from the group and began walking left.

Luther watched as she went, her back turned. Her hair in a low loose ponytail, swinging as she moved. The distant crunch of leaves being squashed by her heavy looking black boots as she disappeared further and further away into the trees. 

Luther blinked. 

The taller figure of his older brother appeared beside him. Pascal looked down at him with a neutral stare in his green eyes. 

He silently offered Luther to climb onto his back and Luther accepted, hoisting himself up with his scrawny little arms and wrapping his legs around his brother’s waist. He was happy and he could tell Pascal was too for the time being. 

When they got back to the house Luther had to wait whilst Bon and Pascal tidied the place a little first. They straightened all the furniture, covered the broken window with a tablecloth and swept up the glass. It wasn’t long before they had managed to get the fire roaring and the house felt just a little more like home again. 

Bon then helped Luther undress out of his now filthy garments and once the water had been warmed enough by the coals, he slipped into the tub. It felt really nice. Bon gently moved Luther backwards so that he was leaning against the side of the wooden bath and Luther felt himself unwind as his father’s firm strong hands massaged soap into his skin, into his hair and into his soul. Soapy clouds drifted across the surface of the warm water. Luther allowed himself to sink deeper. 

Bon felt a smile tug at the side of his lips as his son grew heavy in his hold. Deciding his boy was finally clean, he gently lifted him out of the now clouded water and dabbed him down with a towel rag. Luther’s cheek rested against his arm, as soft as it had been when he was a toddler, tenderized by the steamy bath. 

And much like when Luther had been a toddler, Bon found himself cradling the boy, wrapping him in a night tunic and tucking him under the furs and blankets of his bed next to Theo. The two boys shifted closer to each other as if on instinct and Bon felt his heart swell.

He spent a few more precious moments, watching his youngest children sleep peacefully, before he finally moved out of his room into the hallway closing the door behind him softly. He descended down the stairs, stepping over a hole which had been made in his property supposedly earlier that week. 

When he walked into the kitchen Claudia and Pascal were waiting for him by the fireplace. Claudia already had her plague mask on, the tip curved and sharp like her sythe, the glassy round circles of the mask were filled with reflected flames. Pascal was leaning against the nearby wall, his arms crossed and the shadows on his face became broader in this lighting. Bon knew what his eldest two were thinking and he also knew what was about to happen next was inevitable. 

“So you know where he is then Claudia?” He asked, addressing his only daughter. 

“I have an idea of where he would be. I know he’s good friends with Mr Jarman, he’s even got his own room upstairs at the pub.” She replied coolly. 

“The Jolly man won’t be jolly for much longer.” Pascal snorted.

“And there is nothing I can do to change your mind about this?” Bon found himself asking, although he already knew the answer. 

“You make it sound like you don’t want me to make this man suffer for what he did.” Claudia responded though she didn’t sound upset or angry, there wasn’t even a hint of challenge in her voice. She spoke as if the topic were something as mild as baked bread.

Bon sighed, raising a hand to his forehead as he chuckled lowly. 

“I absolutely do want Jonathan Petters to pay for what he did. But I’d also like to at least keep the illusion of being a good parent,” he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes, “Here.”

Bon tossed a ring of heavy bronze keys into the air, which Claudia seized with one hand. 

“Don’t be late for dinner and don’t kill anyone,” he said, laying down the rules, “Now have fun on your walk.” 

Pascal’s eyes shimmered with mirth as he watched their father figure step out away from the fire towards the door. Bon carefully unwrapped his crossbow from it’s protective cloth, before taking a step outside. 

“I’m off hunting. That should give you a couple of hours out of my sight,” he told them resting his bow across his chest, “Pascal watch the house and I’ll see you in a bit!” 

And with that the man had gone, striding off into the woods once more. 

“And to think I thought we were done fighting people,” Pascal sighed running his hand through his hair, “I suppose the chaos is never going to stop, is it Claud?”

The girl nodded slowly before pulling her maroon coloured hood over her head and walking out the door leaving Pascal alone downstairs. 

The teen then took a seat on one of the wooden stools he had pulled up beside the fireplace crossing his legs and staring into the fire. He watched the flames crackle and burn, splinters of hardwood curling as the heat caused them to crisp and wither. 

Every twenty minutes or so he would toss another log onto the burning mass causing hot orange embers to spill onto the grate. He would then prod it around with the end of his sword given their iron poker had been taken. He began to hum.

Back at the village, in the attic of the greatest pub in Tinmunt, a man lay sprawled across the floor. There was fresh blood streaming down his nose, droplets sprayed across the filthy floorboards as if they had erupted from a burst pipe. 

The man's eyes were wide and puffy, there was sweat all over his face, matting down his thinning hair and mixing with the blood in his bushy beard. The man's hand rested on the hilt of a dagger which was sealed away in his belt, yet it did not move. His breathing was erratic but it was clear from the way he whimpered Jonathan Petters was doing his best to stay quiet. He kept his gaze on the floor, not daring to look up from the boots of his attacker. He knew better. 

“I- i’ll give you your things back. Please- just don’t kill me.” Mr Petters whispered hoarsely. 

“You aren’t giving me anything. I’m taking it,” came the girl's stone cold voice, “and I’ll take whatever I want from you, whether you stole it or not.” 

The man heaved what sounded like a broken sob. 

“That’s not fair,” came his cracked voice, “Why me? Why did I get the house full of maniacs? Why couldn’t I have just gotten a normal family that was simple to steal from. Why did I happen to choose you?”

Claudia scoffed quietly causing the man to wince. However, she didn’t so much as lift a finger against him, instead she continued to talk. 

“It’s a risk you take when you decide to steal, especially from a family of hunters.” 

“You aren’t hunters!” Mr Petter’s cried out, “Y- you are monsters. Fucking monsters. I should have known, I should have known…”

The beaten man broke down in front of the girl, curling in on himself. The girl took out her black handkerchief and although not visible on the dark cloth she knew her brother's blood was still on it. She then wiped her knuckles gently before pocketing it and bending down over the man. 

She slid her hand under his arms and detached a single key from his belt. The metal clinked as she slid the key onto her own ring, the much newer silver addition standing out against the rusty iron and bronze ones. 

“This is my room now. Along with everything in it,” Claudia told the man, “Get out, and don’t forget, the Bloodcrow shows no mercy.” 

Claudia watched as the man scrambled to the door, bursting out into the corridor and streaking down the stairs. She reckoned he’d be at least three towns over by morning, that is if he were wise. She stood up herself, dusting her dress down and readjusting the cuff of her sleeve. 

“Next time, I’ll tell Bon to let me pick the babysitters when we go away.” She reminded herself and with all that needed to be said and done finished, she went home. 

  
  
  



	3. Luther and Theo: Protection

Almost a month later Luther was lying on his back across the rug by the fireplace, holding little wooden soldiers that Pascal had whittled him out of wood. Pascal played it off by saying they were no big deal and he’d “just been bored”, but Luther could tell by the smoothness of the figures and the little features such as crowns and swords some of them came with that his eldest brother had clearly put a lot of time and thought into these. 

Pascal had always been good with his hands, constantly creating, he’d made himself a bow and fashioned countless arrows for Bon. He was also somewhat of a painter, though very rarely did he let anybody see his paintings, especially not Luther as he claimed Luther would get his “grubby sticky child hands” all over them and ruin it. Luther disagreed but then again, he wasn’t particularly fascinated by art anyway and so wasn’t too fussed.

But these wooden soldiers, these figures were great. It had been a while since his brother had made him something. Ever since the older teen had begun to be included on the week-long hunting trips Bon and Claudia took every two months, he’d spent much more time sketching and drawing than actually carving. The last thing Luther could remember receiving from his brother was a wooden catapult which he had used to hurl rocks at pigeons and had actually been broken for about a year. 

“These are pretty great aren’t they,” Theo replied from where he lay on his stomach next to Luther, clutching figurines of his own, “It’s been a while since Pascal made us anything.” 

Luther snorted. 

“It’s like you read my mind you weirdo.” 

The ginger boy then rolled over so he was no longer staring at the ceiling and tried to peer over at his friends collection. 

“Well go on, show me whatcha got Theo.” He said resting his face on his arms. 

The light haired boy joyfully let his wooden statues tumble out of his hands onto the carpet, and he spread them out for Luther to see. 

“Wooow,” Luther cooed over the figures, picking one up to look at, “Yours are different than mine.” 

Theo nodded happily, picking up a dragon shaped one to show his friend. 

“Uh huh, that's cause mine are more magical.”

Luther scrunched his nose as he examined another one of the figurines closely. 

“What’s up with this one? It just looks normal, it got no wings, no crown, no sword, no nuffin.”

“Pascal says that’s cause this one is magical.” Theo replied, taking it back and laying it beside his other statues. 

“What like a sorcerer or something?” Luther asked curiously. 

“Mmm, I think so.”   
  


Luther scoffed, blowing hair out of his eyes and lowering himself till he was entirely flat against the floor once more. 

“Do sorcerers even exist?” He mumbled into the rug. 

“They do.” Came a lady’s voice from across the room. 

Luther and Theo sat up immediately, looking across the small area over to where the cupboards and pots were. Claudia stood in her hunting clothes, though her heavy hunting boots had been taken off and replaced by much softer looking inside boots. There was snow on her shoulders that was melting rapidly and she looked to be holding an upside down pheasant, that hung limply from the end of a stick. 

“How did you get in here so quiet?” Luther asked, shocked at how neither he nor Theo had noticed the door opening. 

“Magic.” Cladia replied in a voice so serious it took Luther a while to realise he was being teased. 

“Heyyy, Claud, that is so unfair,” He whined, “Tell me the truth.”

“A hunter has to learn stealth so as not to alert her prey of her presence,” She replied, hanging the pheasant upon a rusty hook above the washing tub and finally shedding her cloak. 

“And we are your prey?” Theo giggled.

“Absolutely.” Came Claudia’s reply as she made her way over to the fireplace, scooping up Theo into her lap. 

“I will eat you.” She whispered into the young boy's ear, then proceeded to bite his cheek softly. 

Theo gave a shriek that was somewhere between protesting and absolute delight as he squirmed about in the older girl’s lap. Claudia eventually stopped pretending to bite the younger boy and instead placed a brief kiss to the top of his head, right in between his antenna. 

“I’m sorry, I just could not resist your chubby baby cheeks.” She stated, voice as monotone as ever. 

“I’m not a baby.” Theo complained, leaning back in the older girl's arms as if he were one. 

“I want a kiss too,” Luther demanded shuffling forwards on his knees, “No biting though.” 

Claudia looked at him, amusement in her metallic eyes as she stated, “No promises.” But gave him a quick kiss on the head as well. Luther resumed looking at the wooden figures that were left on the carpet, staring at them with intrigue.

“How do you know sorcerers exist Claudia?” he asked, running his thumb over the plain supposedly magic figurine. 

Claudia hummed, resting her chin on Theo’s head. 

“I went to sorcerer school.” She replied finally. 

“What?” Both boys yelled in unison, Theo nearly bumping his head into the other girl’s jaw in surprise. 

“Careful,” she scolded the light haired boy, “and yes, it is the truth. That’s how I know sorcerers exist.”

“Wow! That’s awesome!” Luther declared, his blue eyes shining with glee.

“Are you a sorcerer then Claudia?” Theo asked, giving her loose ponytail a light tug.

“No.” 

The boy's faces fell. Luther’s alert and keen posture melted as he sunk back to the floor looking bored. 

“But I knew a few.” Claudia announced, re piquing the boys interests instantly. 

“What were they like?” Luther asked first, “Were they powerful?”   
  


“What is a sorcerer, what magic do they do?” Theo added.

“If you went to sorcerer school how come you aren’t one?” 

“Yeah how come?”

Claudia blinked slowly, before deciding to switch from kneeling to sitting crossed legged, trying to get more comfortable on the carpeted floor.

“My peers were nice,” She began, her eyes looking upwards in concentration, “I still consider them my closest friends to this day.”   
  


“Like me and Theo?” Luther asked.

“Like you and Theo,” Claudia affirmed, “I haven’t seen them in a while. I only went to this Sorcerer school for two years. Before that I went somewhere else. I was supposed to do a third year but I didn’t want to. I had a family to stick with.” 

The two young boys listened to their sister intently, patiently waiting whilst she paused to think more about what to say next. 

“My friends were hard workers. They learnt a number of things. One of them was particularly good at organising with magic, if I remember correctly. I myself learnt a bit of healing magic, but not enough to be considered a sorcerer.” Claudia finished. 

“That’s pretty awesome,” Luther said, star struck by his sister’s tale, even if it was brief, “What’s organising magic?”

“Creating spaces out of nothing to store items in, like scrolls, I think, was my friend’s favourite trick.” 

“Oh. That’s … a bit more boring than I thought, what else could your friends do?”

“It’s difficult to explain to you,” Claudia told the boy, “You wouldn’t get it.” 

“Could any of your friends kill anybody with magic?” Luther asked hopefully.

“No.” 

Luther let out a huff crossing his arms. 

“Then what’s the point of learning magic.” 

“Convenience,” Claudia replied slowly, “What will help you more if you were a librarian, the ability to sort and store things more conveniently, or the ability to blast someone’s head off?”   
  


“Your friend became a librarian? Ugh boring,” The ginger boy replied rolling his eyes, “I would become a soldier. Or an even better hunter. Use killing magic.”

Claudia went silent, to anyone else this would seem like threatening silence given her inexpressive face, however, Luther had come to understand this as thinking silence. Claudia did a lot of thinking.

“You,” She finally said after a while, “Are missing the point.”

“I think I understand Claudia.” Theo piped up tapping the side of his sister’s face with his hand, “You learn magic for your job?”

“Yes,” the girl said causing the light haired boy to brighten, “and no.”

Theo deflated a little in her arms, pouting slightly. 

“We didn’t know what jobs we would have at the time when we enrolled. We just chose what felt right for us. Then used that skill later.” 

“How do I become a sorcerer?” Luther asked his sister eagerly, crawling towards her till he was sitting comfortably leaning against her shoulder. 

“Books.” Claudia replied honestly. 

“Huh? What about the school you went to.” 

“It's not so simple to just go there. Lu, the world of magic is far more complicated than you think. A scholarly education in sorcery is not just available to anyone. Especially not our meager hunting family.”

“We aren't meager we are cool.” Theo mumbled to her. 

Claudia stilled, then shook her head slightly, beginning to move the boys off of her. She then stood up and straightened her skirt looking down at them and ruffling their hair quickly. 

“I’m going. Have fun.” She said before turning around and heading up the stairs just like that, leaving the boys staring longingly after her.

“Ugh,” Luther let out a groan once she was fully out of sight, flopping backwards and rolling around on the floor, “I don’t understand her Theo!” 

The other boy just shrugged, picking up two wooden pieces from where they had been left on display, “I don’t either? Wanna play?”

The ginger boy reluctantly sat up, nose scrunched.

“Fine. I suppose I could play for a bit.” He mumbled sulkily gathering up his own figurines. 

It didn’t take long however, before he gained his energy back, and was setting up his army in the perfect strategical formula. Archers at the back, cavalry at the front, anything else in between, it was perfect. Luther was going to win. 

Looking at Theo’s army he could see himself at a major advantage over the other boy, his archers could cover more range with their many arrows compared to Theo’s two catapults and he outnumbered his soldiers by a lot, however, there was one thing that made him frown. 

“Why do you have so many magic people?” Luther asked, gesturing to the entire front row of so-called sorcerers. 

“I don’t have that many, I don’t think,” Theo said in surprise, looking down at his own formation, “The same amount as your archers I think.”

“That’s unfair,” the ginger said, crossing his arms, “Sorcerers are better than archers.”

“Really?” Theo replied doubtfully, “I thought you said they were plain.” 

“I didn’t mean that powerwise, I meant in terms of decoration and stuff.” 

“Oh.”

The two boys went silent for a moment, clearly trying to think of a way to adjust the game so they could start playing. 

“I got it! You give me half your magic people and I’ll give you half my archers!” Luther declared. 

“Wha? Half of them? Can’t it be just three?” 

“Nuh uh, cause then it won’t be fair.” 

Theo looked down at his own army and bit his lip. 

“Are you sure, sure?”

“Sure, sure.” Luther replied instantly, “C’mon Thee let’s trade.”

Hesitantly Theo scooped half of his wooden sorceres into his hands and held them out for Luther to take. 

Luther snatched them up greedily, smiling a grin of early victory. However, after mere seconds of holding the figures a wave of shock ran across his face and he dropped them into the soft carpet. The figures landed almost silently in the fluff. 

“Argh, ewww,” Luther cried out disgusted, flicking his hands about, “That’s gross!”

“Huh? What?” Theo asked his friend, wide eyed at the response he had just received. 

“Theo, your figures are all covered in slime or something! That’s yucky!” the other boy declared sticking out his tongue.

“What?” Theo asked, extremely puzzled, “Wait, let me see.” 

But as he reached over to pick up his army again, he noticed a shiny wetness upon his hands and drew them back sharply. 

He stared at them in surprise, wondering how he hadn’t noticed the peculiar substance on his palms. 

“Is that sweat?” Luther asked hesitantly leaning over to look.

Theo examined the liquid carefully, it was near transparent, just like sweat supposedly would be. But as it pooled in his hands he noticed a near amber tinge to it. 

Luther must have noticed too because he immediately shouted “You have pee on your hands!” 

“No!” Theo gasped utterly horrified, “No I don’t!” 

“You do! Ewww Theo! Pee hands!” 

Theo blinked rapidly, his mouth still open in shock. Not even a second later he felt the corner of his mouth turn downwards and tears begin to prickle in his eyes. He burst into tears. 

Luther must have been surprised by this sudden change in mood, as he just sat there watching his friend cry for a bit, before snapping to his senses and running off into the house calling out for his dad. 

Theo sat there sobbing, hands held outwards and away from him. Panic rising within him when he realised there was just more of the slime now than there had been before. This wasn’t normal, this was disgusting.

He ended up being so worked up he nearly didn’t notice that Luther had returned, urgently tugging the sleeve of their tall guardian towards him. 

“Now, now,” Came a deep controlled voice as Bon sat down next to the distressed young boy, “What’s all this about slimy hands?”

Theo tried to speak, but his sentence came out choked and incomprehensible. This didn’t seem to matter as Bon had already gently taken Theo’s arms so he could see the issue for himself. For a moment Bon was quiet, still examining the problem whilst Luther hovered anxiously behind him. 

Then, much to everyone's surprise the man let out a loud hearty chuckle. Theo stopped crying when he felt the man give him a hard pat on the shoulder that nearly knocked him forwards. The man looked at him with proud deep brown eyes, and all Theo could do was utter. 

“What?” 

“My boy, close your fists quickly for me.” Bon asked kindly.

The light haired boy wished to know why, but decided against questioning it and instead did as the man directed. As he curled his fingers towards him he heard a quiet cracking noise and gasped. Quickly reopening his hand, he saw that the liquid had solidified, and now lying in the palm of his hands were tiny shards of swirly brown mixed with caramel coloured patches and pearly white. 

“I don’t understand.” Theo said dumbfounded, “What is this?”

“This is shell Theo. Your shell.” 

“What!” the two boys cried out in disbelief at the same time. Theo looked down at his palms again wide eyed.

“My- my shell?” 

Bon nodded, almost beaming at him with how proud he looked. 

“Why is it on his hands? Is Theo really a snail?” Luther blurted out, staring at Theo’s hands in complete amazement. 

“Schneil,” Bon corrected, “Not a snail. Schneils were named after snails though due to their similarities.” 

“Oh.” Was all Theo could say. 

“Similar like the antenna he has got?” Luther asked curiously.

“Those are tentacles actually, but I suppose it doesn’t really matter.” Bon shrugged. 

Theo’s face blanched. Tentacles? Shell? He didn’t like this. His displeasure must have been enough to notice because he felt a firm comforting hand begin to rub his back.

“What’s wrong Theo?” 

“This is… disgusting.” He muttered, still staring at the broken bits of shell in his hands. 

“No Theo, it’s not disgusting,” Bon began reassuringly, “It’s normal. For you anyway.”

“It is pretty gross,” Luther piped up, but before Bon could scold the boy he quickly added, “But that’s what makes it awesome too! Really awesome! This is like the coolest thing ever.” 

Theo still felt unsure. He remembered back to when he had gone to school and kids had made fun of him for his non human features, trying to pull the tentacles on his head. He remembered one boy who had purposely put garden snails in his shoes one morning, before Theo had a chance to wake up. Another girl had then filled his shoes with table salt she stole from dinner the night before. 

Theo remembered sitting there in the early hours of the morning beside his shoes weeping. They had become a coffin for about ten to fifteen withered snails. He had picked a few up and held them in his shaking hands, some of them still wriggling about as they shriveled away. Then one of the teachers came to the barn to scold Theo for being so late to breakfast and upon seeing his ruined shoes had thrown them out and decided he would get no shoes as punishment. This had only made him cry harder, which made the teacher angrier and eventually Theo had been sent back inside with no breakfast either. 

Theo felt icky and abnormal. This wasn’t really cool. Luther was just saying that. Luther always said that. 

A small hand reaching out to pluck pieces of shell from Theo made him jump. When he gazed upwards, he saw his ginger friend smiling at him as he looped his fingers with his intertwining both their hands. Theo blinked. Luther grinned. 

“You can make shell Theo! That is really cool and I mean it,” Luther said, and as much as Theo wanted to say he was wrong he couldn’t shake the feeling Luther was being honest this time, “You’re basically magic now!”

Bon gave a sudden cough causing the boy’s attention to turn to him. 

“Actually you’re right Luther,” Their father said with a shy smile, “ He is magic.” 

Theo’s jaw dropped and his friend’s head snapped towards him in shock. 

“I’m magic?” Theo whispered, “Like a sorcerer?”   
  


Bon chuckled, shaking his head. 

“Not quite. Look boys, this is probably going to be a lot to take in so sit down and make yourself comfortable. Go on.”

There were a few seconds of shuffling whilst the two children adjusted themselves. Once settled Bon continued. 

“So boys, what do you know about the people of this world?” He asked, placing his hands on his knees and leaning forwards. 

Luther hummed loudly and Theo gave a small shrug.

“There are lots of them?” he tried, giving his head a slight tilt.

“That is certainly true,” Bon agreed, “There are lots of people in this world. All of them are made up of little things that make them them. Like whether you’re a boy or a girl, or something in between, or whether you have brown eyes or green eyes or any other colour. What makes you you?”

“I have blue eyes!” Luther piped up, “And I’m a boy, and I am really really good at climbing trees.” 

“Exactly!” Bon congratulated, his eyes shining, “Now Theo what about you? What makes you you?”

Theo pondered this for a few seconds, thinking hard whilst Luther and Bon waited expectantly.

“I have brown eyes and I’m a boy, I like the colour green, and I’m a snail.” He carefully listed off on his fingers. He was going to continue when Bon clapped loudly causing Theo to jump. 

“Ah ha!” Bon said wisely, “See what you said right there? About how you are a schneil?”

Theo blinked. 

“Oh yeah.” 

“That is another defining part of who you are. Luther over there is a human boy, and you are a schneil boy. Just like how Pascal is a forest sprite but Claudia is human. These are the races of this world and there are many of them, all unique and different but all people at heart.”

Theo listened in awe. He couldn’t believe there were not just more different people out there, but also more people like him! He almost couldn’t actually imagine it. What would they all look like? 

“That is so awesome.” He heard Luther say and he couldn’t help but nod in agreement. 

“Now some types of people are born with magic organs. Bits of the body that help them to do magic naturally, without having to learn or use enchanted items for assistance. This magic is often very specific and is something all of these people could do,” Bon told them with a smile, “Now Theo where do you think your magic body parts are?”

“My hands.” Theo answered at the same time Luther declared “His tentacles.” 

Theo snorted as Luther blanked, before hurriedly spluttering “Wait wait, can I change my answer?” 

Their father laughed heartily, giving his beard a stroke. 

“Actually you are both right! Theo’s tentacles have magic in them which allows him to talk to other schneils without having to utter a word. But only for other schneils, sadly it wouldn’t work for us.” Bon quickly added so as not to get the boys hopes up, “Theo’s hands have a magic organ underneath the palms called a mantle. You don’t need to know any of this in detail but the mantles produce a substance that becomes a shell when it dries, hardening like wax. That’s why we call it shell wax. Now you’re beginning to figure out how to make it, you can begin trying to sculpt your own shell.”

Theo’s eyes lit up.

“I can make my own shell? What do I do with it?” 

Bon’s eyes glinted and he cleared his throat as if he had been waiting to say this bit for years, “This is the best part Theo, your shell is special! Once created your shell will stick to your back like a magnet, easily removable if you want to take it off. However, it also holds another special secret! You can store things inside it!”

“I can?” He wondered aloud.

“What kind of things?” Luther interrupted.

“Anything, at least anything that will fit through the opening of the shell. Once you get it past there, it will take up no space at all! The inside of schneil shells are as big as entire castles, even though the outside might not be much bigger than a basket. If you’ve stored it in your shell, you’ll be able to summon it easily whenever you desire.”

Luther leapt up and punched the air. 

“We can store so many blankets inside your shell Theo!” He cried out, offering to pull the other boy to his feet. 

Theo accepted gladly and allowed Luther to swing him around in giddy circles whilst Bon watched the boys with a pleased look upon his face. 

“How do I make a shell though? Where do I start?” He asked when they stopped spinning finally, awaiting further information. 

“Ah well, that would have been something for another schneil to tell you,” Bon said, giving the back of his neck an awkward rub, “ Not many books go over the process of sculpting in huge detail. However I trust you’ll figure it out Theo, there’s no rush and you’ll have plenty of time to practise. Luther will help you, won’t you Lu?”

Luther snapped to attention immediately, puffing out his chest with determination.

“Of course I will!”

Theo felt his cheeks glow warm as he felt his friend take his hand and give it a squeeze. 

“You are going to have the coolest shell ever. I’ll make sure!” 

“Well boys, any further questions?” Bon asked standing up to toss another log onto the fire. 

“Yeah, does Pascal get a shell too cause he’s a forest sprite?” Luther asked.

“Ha, nope. Forest sprites do not get shells as far as I’m aware, they do however have awfully good vision in the dark and a weird resistance to poison. Though I nearly had a heart attack before I realised that last point.” Bon muttered, “I know more about Schneils than I ever will forest sprites, such mysterious creatures. Any more schenil questions then before I go?”

Theo pondered, but was honestly too excited to think further on it for now, he wanted to try out his cool new powers as soon as possible. So, he shook his head and Luther stayed quiet too. 

“Well,” Bon huffed satisfied, leaning over to give each of their heads a ruffle, “How about I fix you both some frothy milk whilst you get started on shell sculpting?” 

“Can I have cinnamon in mine?” Theo asked hopefully, “Please.” 

“Since you asked so nicely, I’ll even add a spoonful of honey as well,” the rusty haired man nodded, “Luther? Cinnamon?” 

The red haired boy shook his head, scrunching his nose a little. Bon smiled.

“Very well.” He said, clapping his hands as he made his way over the cooking side of the kitchen.

Luther and Theo took their seats at the wooden table, Luther sitting upon a stool till they could find a good replacement for his chair. Then two began their work, eager to create the best shell ever. 

It took awhile for Theo to figure out how to make shell wax again, but once he did the boys dove straight into the project. Luther gave Theo the excellent idea of using the curve of his hand to begin trying to make the first spiral of the shell. It was going well until about five minutes in, when the wonky shape suddenly caved and ended up shattered on the table. 

But the two weren’t deterred, and powered on by the warm drinks Bon had given them, they tried again. The next three proved to be too flimsy, the fourth and fifth attempts entirely the wrong shape, the sixth was getting there but the wax wasn’t drying fast enough. 

Then the boys had to break for dinner, in which they chatted endlessly to their two siblings about their incredible discovery over the scent of jacket potato and mulled wine. Pascal and Claudia responded by cheering Theo on, admiring his attempts so far and telling him just how much he was improving with every try. Theo had hidden his face shyly behind his hands at the praise and as a result had almost accidentally glued a shell to his face. Bon told him he would get the hang of it soon. 

And he did, in a way, maybe not as soon as he thought he would, but after three days of experimenting Theo found it began to come naturally to him. He would sit at the table in the morning as Pascal sketched, as Luther babbled away next to him and he would smooth the wax into shape, willing it to go the right way, spinning it into a looping spiral.

The end result by that Friday was a smooth round shell, as tough as bark and with brown swirls the colour of coffee and wood. If Theo had thought he was happy with that result, his family was almost happier. He had worn it all day, absolutely beaming refusing to take it off even when Luther wanted to see how much stuff from the pantry they could fit inside. But when he did take it off, the very first thing he stored away was the wooden carved sorcerer,` now decorated with a hand print of pearly white and brown. 


End file.
